It's no laughing matter
by Ushuaia
Summary: How far will Sakura, Tomoyo and Meiling to get Syaoran to laugh?


Disclaimers Apply. CCS characters are not my property. Clamp own them.  
  
It's no laughing matter  
By Cammi  
  
Author's notes: I saw one of my friends the other day, and two of them tortured one of them by means of tickling his sides. It was a laughing spree! And the fact that he is a guy really makes me wonder, "What if…?"  
Really, what if the guys who is famous for their scowls and sneers suddenly chuckle, chortle, grin….and the fact that it is fun just making a menacing plan about it?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Laugh, Syaoran."  
"Come on, Li-kun. You can do it."  
"Even a giggle, Syaoran."  
"Smile at the camera, Li-kun."  
The girls are huddled together around Syaoran, eyes closed in defiance and both hands crossed on his chest. Meiling and Sakura tried to make Syaoran laugh…smile even…just for a little bit. While Tomoyo and her videocam anticipates the 'moment.'  
  
The moment I was talking about, is the moment the Chinese boy muster a grin for the first time in the history of Tomoeda.  
  
"No."  
"No."  
"No."  
Obstinate as ever, he stood up and went to the window. The girls shortly followed, continued on nagging him. But instead of making him smile, he scowled even more because of their irritating requests.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
Earlier...  
"Have you seen him laugh, Meiling?" Tomoyo asked out of the blue, right in the middle of lunch break.  
"Now that you mentioned it," Meiling pondered, "No."  
"Then let's make him laugh!" Sakura stood up and raised her hands for the uncalled vote. Tomoyo raised her hands too, but she saw Meiling hesitated.  
"I don't know..." she said, "he might get angry."  
"But he'll look uglier when he gets older," Sakura explained. "Just look at my brother Touya. He's ugly and a nuisance."  
Just then a ball went flying over the fence and landed heavily on Sakura's head. "OUCH!!!"  
"Sakura, daijobu?" Tomoyo asked, kneeling down with her.  
Meiling looked pass the fence and glared at the perpetrators. "Who did that?" She demanded.  
"I'm sorry, Sakura-chan."  
All of a sudden, Sakura perked up, tears and pain all forgotten, then turned to face the most handsome and heavenly face in the whole world.  
"Yukito....." she sighed dreamily.  
"Oh boy," Meiling muttered, slamming a palm on her forehead and shook her head. "Here we go again."  
"Are you okay, Sakura-chan?" Yukito repeated again.  
She went running up to the chain linked fence and faced him, red on her face. "Of course, Yukito. I'm okay. It's nothing."  
Just then Touya came running up the fence and stood beside Yukito. "Yukito did you find the ball---Hello, kaiju."  
Sakura's face fell, frowning up at him. "I'm NOT a monster!!"  
"Yes, yes," Touya dismissed, "keep saying yourself that."  
"Oh, come on, Touya," Yukito said.  
  
(Glad he's there. We might not like where their fight will end up)  
  
But Yukito wasn't finished: "Besides, you're the one who threw the ball over the fence."  
  
(Uh-oh. I shouldn't have spoken too soon.)  
  
Silence.  
  
"Soooooo…." Sakura glared at him. "You're the one who hit me on the head."  
"Oh! That was you?" then Touya smiled. "Good thing. That was a nice shot!"  
"Oh, shut up. That wasn't nice!!"  
"Please," Yukito tried to stop them. "That's enough."  
Then Tomoyo went up to them. "Since you are here, might as well ask you this."  
"What?"  
"What will you do if you want to make a friend of yours lau----smile?"  
"And this friend DOESN'T smile often," Meiling added. "Probably never."  
Yukito went silent for a while, thinking. Then raising his head, he looked at Touya….VERY INTENTLY. Then he went back and stared at Tomoyo, and smiled.  
  
"If that is Touya….that would be impossible."  
  
(Touya: Eh?)  
  
"That is true…"  
"Yes…"  
"So we are asking the wrong person, then?"  
"Then what about Syaoran?"  
"Oh, you wanted to make Syaoran smile?" Yukito asked.  
"Well…" Tomoyo replied. "We are more on the lines of making him laugh."  
"Oh," Yukito said as they headed back to their school. "Then I wish good luck."  
"Yeah," Touya called back. "You'll be needing it."  
The three girls watched as Yukito and Touya disappeared among the crowd of people.  
"Good riddance," Sakura muttered, her gaze at Touya.  
"Well," Meiling said, finishing her lunch. "Whatever happens, we'll make him laugh."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Syaoran still continued to gaze away the window, with three girls hovering around him, trying hopelessly for the Kodak moment.  
  
Now, Meiling regrets she ever said that last sentence that made them go for the Impossible Dream.  
  
Finally…  
"I give up!" Meiling sat down on the nearby seat. "He's hopeless."  
"Don't give up, Meiling. Not yet," the ever hopeful Tomoyo said.  
"Why don't you just quit it," Syaoran said. "You won't make me laugh."  
"Why? Why? Why? WHY won't you laugh?"  
"Because," Syaoran faced them, an index finger in the air, "I don't."  
Tomoyo pulled Sakura and Meiling, then huddled together. They are now planning for their next move.  
"There must be some way we can make him laugh?" Sakura asked.  
"What about tickling him?"  
"No, no," the little Chinese girl shook her head, "Syaoran's not ticklish."  
"Anywhere?"  
"Anywhere."  
Sakura went into the deep-thinking mode. Usually, she's in this state when she's brainstorming for a plan on how to catch Clow Cards….and that is when the situation calls for desperate measures.   
  
And at this moment, she IS desperate.  
  
Clow cards….wait a minute!! Maybe she could use one of her cards on him. But what?  
  
Loop card, Fly card, Flower card, Change card…  
  
Change Card?  
  
She remembered the time when she captured the Change Card. It was the time when Kero-chan and Syaoran exchanged bodies. It wasn't a nice sight, indeed.   
  
But it was funny, anyway.  
  
"Sakura, you're grinning." Tomoyo noticed. "Do you have a plan?"  
"What is it?" Meiling excitedly asked. "Come on, tell me."  
Sakura pulled out the bag where she put all her cards and shuffled it. Finally, she took out the card for the job. Meanwhile, Syaoran was trying to take a peek to see what is going on there. Meiling caught him, glared, and Syaoran quietly looked away.  
"The Change card! Of course!" Tomoyo exclaimed, but softly. "But how would that card help us making Li laugh?"  
"I was never good at persuasion, so I leave this to you, Tomoyo."  
With that Sakura whispered her plan of conspiracy on Tomoyo. Meiling nodding mischievously.  
  
"Oh Li-kun!"  
The three turned around and faced Syaoran, totally unaware of the scheme taking place. And with the teasing grin on their faces, Li had this strange feeling that this is not good.  
"Nani?" Li confronted. "What is playing in your evil minds?"  
"Oh, we are not evil," Meiling said. But it was obvious, for she was grinning wider than the others were.  
"Li, do you remember this card?" With that, Tomoyo drew the Change Card out.  
Syaoran's face completely fell aghast. So that's it!  
"If you don't laugh, Sakura here will summon the Change Card and put you in Keroberos' body…again!"  
His heart was thumping in fear, but he regained his composure. He wouldn't let them know he's tense about it. "You wouldn't dare."  
"Sakura."  
"Hai!"  
Sakura released the key and chanted her words. Li started to sweat furiously. But when the Card Captor grabbed the newly formed rod, Li had already ran away.  
"Wow, that was fast." Meiling commented.  
"But we're not letting him escape that far," Tomoyo said as she pulled Sakura and picked up her videocam. "This is going to be exciting."  
"I hope so," Sakura muttered, for she is definitely having second thoughts.  
  
The three separated ways, to hunt for the lost prey. Fierce predators as they are now, Li wondered if they are still his friends.  
And the fact that it started from Daidouji's mind. Man, how could she think these things? She was scary than he thought.  
  
(Wait 'till she finds out that you have a crush on her bestfriend---but that is later in the CCS series!)  
  
Li crouched a little more into a small tight ball behind the bushes when he heard Sakura's steps coming his way. 'If she finds me here, then, hello pudding!'  
But his heart slowly regained his normal pace and his body eases up when he heard her trotted away.  
"Did you see him?" It was Daidouji, and it seems that they are not far away.  
"Uh-uh," Sakura answered. "I didn't see anything."  
"Well?" Now it was Meiling, who just arrived from her failed hunt. "Did you find him?"  
"Nope."  
"This is fun!" Meiling giggled. "I can't believe I'm playing tag with my dear Syaoran!!"  
Li sweatdropped. Meiling should be on his side, for Pete's sakes!  
"Well, let's continue to find him," Tomoyo ordered, and in no time at all, they separated once again.  
  
Li lifted his head from the bushes, and slowly looked sideways. No sign of them.   
Good. All clear.  
He stood up and climbed out of the bush. Then he slowly took out the leaves and twigs that got hitched on his shirt. He looked like he was dragged along the grass. "Now how could I explain this to Wei?"  
"There he is!!!" Daidouji announced, her camera on her face.  
Li ran on the opposite direction, but Daidouji is still hot on his trail. The way ended into a junction, and Syaoran turned left. But he stepped back immediately when Meiling came running towards him from the front.   
Her hands wrapped around him, both of them landing on the ground. "Tag! You're it!"  
Li quickly disentangled himself from her embrace and dashed away, just in time to escape Daidouji too.  
"Don't let him slip away!" Daidouji exclaimed.  
"Oh, Syaoran!!" Meiling cheered happily.  
"LEAVE ME ALONE!!" The frantic Li yelled.  
Li continued to run until finally he collided with Sakura. He had almost tripped and pushed Sakura, but he straightened his legs, and pulled her up. "Thank you Li." Sakura said, then smiled.  
"What are you doing!!" Tomoyo yelled at her. "Grab him!!"  
And she did, but Li pulled free. "Wind Card!"  
A gust of wind came out and surrounded Li. It grabbed him and lifted him up, hoisting him up on the air. Then he landed safely by the Cherry Tree.  
The three girls approached their entrapped victim. Game Over.  
"Now…"  
"….Laugh…"  
"….or meet your doom!"  
  
Sweating furiously, he felt like he has no choice. Three girls staring at him, anticipating his next move. One is a maniac who always follows him around like glue, the other one who has the mind of unknown mischief, and the other one is as dense as she can be. In any case, Sakura is most capable of entrapping him in the furball's body if he's not careful.  
Hell, they've cornered me, Li thought. Then he weighed things in his mind: Reputation? Or the ugly experiences of being trapped in someone else's body (and Keroberos' to boot!), and watches his body do humiliating acts that he doesn't want to think about.  
It's either he'll humiliate himself, in his own awareness, or let others do it, with nasty results.  
Might as well…  
  
The camera was carefully aimed at him when…  
  
"He…"  
  
The three stopped short.  
  
"Hehe…."  
  
Li's lips curved into a slight smile. The three felt their blood ran cold.  
  
"Hehehe…."  
  
Definitely. Cold is not the word now. It's 'chilling.'  
  
"Haha…"  
  
He was now smiling, and saw the horror of what they had done.  
  
"HAHAHAHA….."  
  
Li, for the first time in his life, laughed wholeheartedly.  
  
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"  
  
He was still thumping his feet on the ground and arms around his ribs, laughing uncontrollably.  
The three girls stared at disbelief. Even Tomoyo's videocam fell in shock.  
"That….was scary."  
"Yes."  
"We shouldn't have plan this in the first place."  
"It's like I'm watching one of the Twilight Zone replays. 'Scrooge finally makes its laughing debut'."  
"Hai…."  
  
And still, Syaoran continued on laughing.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Tomoyo and Sakura went on, following the all familiar route towards home. Tomoyo was lucky her camera didn't break, and she still has Li's 'shocking' footage.  
Anyway, she's going to save this for future blackmail.  
That's when she noticed that Sakura was awfully quiet today. She turned to face her and asked, "Daijoubu, Sakura?"  
Sakura nodded. "I'm okay, Tomoyo. But I'm just wondering."  
"What is it?"  
"The plan we did today," she said. "Will it work for my brother?"  
  
END  
  
Author's notes: What do you think? But that is just Syaoran. What about Touya? (But honestly, I don't know if I'm going to make a sequel on this…better twist my mind a little bit for Touya is hard work.) 


End file.
